"He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers." (Psalm 78:16)

Prime Timers is a Christian Education group at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above. We follow a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, the three year cycle of Bible readings used throughout the Anglican Communion and by many Protestant denominations worldwide. Next week's readings are right here, at the bottom of the page! You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00.

The Miracle of the Manna, by Tintoretto, 1577, oil on canvas, at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Prime Timer Good News!

A Prime Timer tradition is hearing what others are up to, and charging a dollar for the privilege! We donate the money we collect to charities supported by the church. George gave thanks for rain and the fact that his ranch near Bastrop was spared by the wildfires that devastated this area.

God's Generosity

George Laigle led the Prime Timers today in our Old Testament readings from Exodus involving God's "manna from heaven" and the New Testament with Jesus' parable of the generous vineyard owner.

George tell us he had trouble for many years with the story of the generous vineyard owner in Matthew 20. The guy goes out to the marketplace at various times during the day and hires whoever is hanging around waiting for work. At the end of the day he pays everyone "the usual daily wage." The workers who worked all day are troubled! As an engineer, you can see George's problem. What is to stop the workers who were ticked off from coming back the next day verrrrry late! Marty comments how the main problem with societies where the workers run things is that about a quarter of them end up taking advantage of the system.

Jesus, of course, is not telling this parable to establish work rules. Rather this is a metaphor about faith, maybe summed up in the last verse of the reading (Mt 20:16) "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." God is merciful!

The story from Exodus is the familiar one of the Israelites bemoaning their fates, Moses asking God for help, and God giving a sign, this time with "manna" from heaven, just enough to provide for these people in their journey through the desert. Manna is described in Exodus 15:14 as a "fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground." Our class notes go on to call it a naturally occurring substance in the Sinai Desert derived from the secretions of scale insects that feed on the sap of tamarisk bushes. It is sweet and full of carbohydrates, but does not keep well. Once again there is a metaphor going on. Trust God to supply your needs, and respect the Sabbath.

The point of today's readings are neatly summed up by Gracia Grindal, a Christian author who has written that Jesus uses the assumptions in the Gospel “to introduce a new kingdom, one that is drastically different from the kingdom of this world. It is his final question, however, that stumps us: Is not God free? (Mt. 20:15). Abstractly, since we are not the pickers, we might agree that God’s
move here is more than fair—God gives us all the same thing, not what we deserve, or what we’ve worked for. God is being merciful, not fair, and this is what mercy looks like.”

Murray concluded class with a short prayer.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, September 25th are from Lectionary Year One, Proper 21-A, "Which Did the Will of His Father?": Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13 and Matthew 21:23-32. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Exodus 17:1-7

¹From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ²The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ ³But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ ⁴So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ ⁵The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’

Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16

A Maskil of Asaph.

¹ Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
² I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³ things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
⁴ We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

¹² In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
¹³ He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
¹⁴ In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all night long with a fiery light.
¹⁵ He split rocks open in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
¹⁶ He made streams come out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

Philippians 2:1-13

¹If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
⁶ who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
⁷ but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸ he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

¹² Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Matthew 21:23-32

²³ When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ ²⁴Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” ²⁶But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ ²⁷So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

²⁸ ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” ²⁹He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

NRSV